Scriptiegegevens

Countries and international organizations recognize human trafficking as a
violation of human rights. Human trafficking is a global issue that affects
many lives daily. The United Nations initiated the Palermo Protocol in 2000
as an international approach to combat human trafficking. Now, in 2016, 169
countries have ratified this document, but implementing legislation and
taking action to combat human trafficking is no priority on the political
agenda. Using a quantitative multilevel model we aimed to answer the
question: “Why do countries ratify, but not all comply with the Palermo
Protocol?” Using data from seven different sources, we constructed a dataset
to test which domestic or international factors can best explain compliance
with the Palermo Protocol. Results suggest that, taken the limitations of
quantitative research design into account, institutions on the domestic level
have a major impact on compliance with the Palermo Protocol. International
factors such as being a member of an international regime or social learning
appear to have no significant relationship with compliance with the Palermo
Protocol.